What Is Procrastination?

Procrastination, the number one enemy of productivity and happiness, is a very common form of behavior among virtual assistants who are pressured to complete tasks that involve work or some kind of mental effort.

It’s the tendency to regularly put off or avoid important tasks and duties, instead of taking a proactive approach to them.

People tend to procrastinate when they have overwhelming, time-consuming tasks ahead of them that they feel little will be accomplished by taking action on them. This often results in procrastinators feeling overwhelmed, depressed and anxiety-ridden.

Here’s a guide to explore procrastination so you can tackle your procrastination problems once and for all.

What Is Procrastination and Why Does It Occur?

The word “procrastination” comes from the Latin verb “procrastinare“, which means “to defraud”, “to delay”, or “to put off for tomorrow what should be done today.”

Procrastination is best described as an open delay or postponement of a particular task, which you may do because you have not fully thought through the issue, or because of some internal barrier that prevents you from getting started.

It can be triggered by various circumstances in one’s life.

Procrastinators are often motivated by some combination of fear, lack of confidence, self-sabotage, lack of self-discipline, lack of motivation and perfectionism.

The most common reason for procrastinating is that a task seems too large or difficult for us to deal with. We get overwhelmed and feel like we don’t have what it takes to complete a task on time, so we put it off until later when we will feel better equipped to handle it.

Procrastination also occurs when we don’t know how to start, or when we feel like the task before us is overwhelming or unclear.

This can happen if our expectations aren’t realistic or if there are too many steps involved in completing the task at hand.

What Are The 4 Types Of Procrastinators?

Procrastination has been part of our daily lives for as long as we can remember. We all procrastinate at one time or another.

However, there are four main types of procrastinators, each getting their kicks in different ways.

The Performer

This type of procrastinator is not a procrastinator at all. He or she is simply very busy. The performer has many projects, responsibilities and obligations that need to be completed on time. They are good at meeting deadlines, but often have little free time to relax.

The performer is often a perfectionist and can be very critical of their own performance.

They may also be highly self-critical and frequently blame themselves for any mistakes they make or problems they encounter.

The Self-Deprecator

These people see themselves as failures and believe that they will never be able to complete a task successfully.

This type of procrastinator rarely completes any projects because they feel like they are not good enough and will always fail in the end anyway. They tend to procrastinate because they don’t want to fail. They believe that if they put off doing something, then they can avoid failure.

They feel like they will do better when they are ‘ready’ and not before. This type of person will often beat themselves up over their lack of ability, which makes it even harder for them to be motivated to take action towards their goals or desires.

The key thing with this type of person is that they need to learn how to become more confident in themselves so that they can start taking action on things that matter most to them.

The Overbooker

This type of procrastinator tends to be busy all the time. They have multiple projects going on at once, but they never seem to get anything done. If they do manage to finish something, they’ll jump right into another project without taking time off for rest or relaxation.

The overbooker likes to have all their tasks completed by the end of the day and this can lead to them putting off some tasks until tomorrow. They might have a list of tasks that they want to complete but they are afraid they won’t get everything done in time so they keep adding more onto the list. This means that they never actually get around to doing any work because they’re too busy thinking about what needs to be done next.

This type of procrastinator gets overwhelmed by all their commitments and feels like there’s not enough time in the day to complete them all. The overbooker often has trouble saying no when someone asks for help or volunteers for extra work at work or anything else.

They may also find themselves rushing through projects because they don’t have enough time allotted for them.

The Novelty Seeker

The novelty seeker is a go-getter who loves to try new things. This person will jump on the opportunity to expand their horizons and has a strong desire to explore the unknown.

These personality traits are beneficial when applied in the right situations, but can lead to trouble when taken too far. They are also the type of procrastinator who just can’t seem to sit still.

They’ll start a project, but their attention span is short and they jump around from one task to the next. These people are often busy and productive, but their lack of commitment to any one project makes them inefficient.

They’re likely to have a hard time finishing tasks because they’re constantly distracted by new ones.

How Would You Know If You’re Procrastinating?

Procrastination is considered a self-regulatory failure in which one thinks of a specific task as being too difficult or overwhelming to complete. When this occurs, the person often avoids thinking about it or doing it for as long as possible, although he or she may recognize that it needs to be done.

If you’re procrastinating, you might have trouble getting started on something. You may feel like you don’t have enough time or that you need to wait for a better time to get started. But if you keep putting things off, you can end up feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.

It is a behavior that can be detrimental to a person’s productivity, relationships, and overall well-being.

Here are some signs that you may be procrastinating:

• • have low self-efficacy (i.e., confidence) in their ability to complete a task successfully;
  • are not motivated by the task; and/or
  • are experiencing negative emotions like depression, anxiety, anger, or boredom.

How Do We Stop Procrastinating In Our Virtual Assistant Business?

If you are a virtual assistant, or any other type of freelancer,  procrastination is a common challenge on a regular basis. There are multiple ways that we can put a stop to procrastination in our virtual assistant business. The most important thing is to set goals for yourself and then create deadlines for meeting those goals. Once you have done this, you will feel more motivated and get things done faster!

7 ways to overcome procrastination in our virtual assistant business

1. The first thing you should do is take a look at your schedule and see where you can cut back on time spent on social media or watching TV. You might be surprised at how much time can be freed up if you just eliminate some of those distractions!

2. Make a list of everything that needs to be done and prioritize them based on what is most important first; then work down the list until everything is complete.

3. Take breaks every hour while working on something so you don’t get burned out or bored with what you are doing. This will make it easier for you to keep going without feeling overwhelmed or tired.

4. Don’t work at night because it will be harder for you to concentrate since your mind is more likely to wander off to other things that are more interesting than what you are working on at that moment.

5. Set realistic goals – If you set unrealistic goals for yourself then it’s more likely that you will procrastinate on them because they seem too difficult to achieve!

6. Start small – Instead of trying to do everything at once, start small with the most important tasks first and then move onto the next easiest ones! Focus on one thing at a time until it’s complete before moving onto the next item on your list!

7. Break down tasks into smaller chunks – Make sure that each task is broken down into smaller chunks so that you don’t get overwhelmed by all the work ahead of you!

Conclusion

Procrastination is an all-too-common psychological problem, and one that can have a serious impact on our everyday lives. It can cost you money, make you feel bad about yourself and may even affect your relationship with family members.

There are many reasons that can cause procrastination, but they can all be boiled down to one root cause—lack of motivation. If you want to stop procrastinating, then you need to find the source of your lack of motivation and eliminate it.

However, there are ways to tackle it and overcome procrastination so we can live more satisfying and productive lives. More than simply a delay, procrastination is more complex than we first realize—but once we understand it better, we can start working towards overcoming it to become a better virtual assistant.